United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit
No. 24-1233
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Appellee,
v.
NELSON MEDINA-ORTIZ,
Defendant, Appellant.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO
[Hon. Franciso A. Besosa, U.S. District Judge]
Before
Aframe, Hamilton,* and Thompson, Circuit Judges.
Mariángela Tirado-Vales, for appellant.
Julia M. Meconiates, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney, and Mariana E. Bauzá-Almonte, Assistant United States Attorney, Chief, Appellate Division, were on brief, for appellee.
* Of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, sitting by designation. November 24, 2025 THOMPSON, Circuit Judge.
Setup
Caught in an FBI sting with agents posing as a 14-year-
old girl, Nelson Medina-Ortiz watched a jury convict him of
attempted transportation of a minor for criminal sexual activity,
see 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a), but acquit him of attempted sexual
enticement of a minor, see 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). And he appeals.
The only issue for us on de novo review is whether the
district judge needed to instruct the jury on an entrapment
defense. See, e.g., United States v. Dávila-Nieves, 670 F.3d 1,
9 (1st Cir. 2012) (spotlighting the standard of review). To win,
Medina (as we'll now call him, per Spanish-naming norms) must show
that the judge wrongly ruled that he hadn't met his "modest"
threshold burden of highlighting evidence both that the FBI induced
the crime and that he wasn't predisposed to commit it. See United
States v. Shinderman, 515 F.3d 5, 14 (1st Cir. 2008) (adding that
a court must "[t]ak[e] th[e] evidence in the light most flattering
to the defendant").1 Another way of saying this is that his failing
1 "[E]ntrapment," to quote the esteemed Judge Posner, "means the government's inducing a person to commit a crime who was not predisposed to commit it — in other words, who would not have committed it but for the particular inducement that the government held out." United States v. Manzella, 791 F.2d 1263, 1269 (7th Cir. 1986). "[I]f the inducement," he continued, merely affects the timing of the offense — inducing the criminal to commit it at a time and in a place where the government can easily apprehend him and make a case
- 3 - to establish either inducement or predisposition is fatal to this
appeal. See, e.g., United States v. Ramos-Paulino, 488 F.3d 459,
462 n.1 (1st Cir. 2007).
Agreeing with the government that his inducement
arguments fall short, we let Medina's conviction stand. And
because his case is straightforward, we cut straight to the merits
(offering further details as needed to place this appeal into
workable perspective).
Arguments and Analysis
Spanning just a few sentences in his brief's argument
section, Medina's theory that the government induced him to break
against him — punishing the criminal will, or at least may, reduce the crime rate, by taking out of circulation a person who, had he not been caught, would have committed the same crime, only in different circumstances, making it harder to catch him. Id. "But," Judge Posner said, if the inducement was so great that it tempted the person to commit a crime that he would not otherwise have committed, punishing him will not reduce the crime rate; it will merely deflect law enforcement into the sterile channel of causing criminal activity and then prosecuting the same activity. Id. We can't put it better ourselves.
- 4 - the law goes like this (using an easy-to-read bullet-point
format):2
• Impersonating a minor named "Rolianas" (we adopt the
parties' spelling), an agent "started the online
communications" by posting an ad on Craigslist's casual
encounters page titled "Bored - w4m" (w4m means women for
men, the agent explained at trial).3 In the ad's body, the
agent wrote "On Spring break in PR. What's gud? Been
boring so far! . . . looking for fun. Ideas??"4
• The agent then plunged "dogged[ly]" ahead, "playing" with
Medina by pushing "him to volunteer more activities" he
thought the two could do beyond his suggestions of "going
to the movies, eating, the beach," or driving around.
• And the agent's coaxing him to reveal other "fun" things he
might be looking for qualifies as a "plus factor" that
signals inducement. See, e.g., United States v. O'Donovan,
126 F.4th 17, 40 (1st Cir. 2025) (noting that simply
"providing an opportunity to commit a crime is not improper
2 Medina filed no reply brief, by the way. 3We put scare quotes around "Rolianas" — and around "she" and "her" (pronouns the parties use in referring to "Rolianas") — because "she" isn't a real person. 4The relevant materials are full of typos, missing words, and other grammatical or syntactical errors. We quote them as- is.
- 5 - inducement, although proof of opportunity plus something
else may be adequate to meet a defendant's burden to prove
inducement" (quoting United States v. Saemisch, 18 F.4th
50, 61 (1st Cir. 2021))); see also United States v.
González-Pérez, 778 F.3d 3, 11 (1st Cir. 2015) (saying that
"'plus' factor[s] include 'excessive pressure'" (quoting
United States v. Guevara, 706 F.3d 38, 46 (1st Cir. 2013))).
Call us unconvinced.
Medina's theory ignores some hard realities, as the
below-sampling of eight days' worth of emails, texts, and phone
calls between him and "Rolianas" shows.
i
Responding to the agent's ad, Medina emailed "Rolianas"
a photo of himself (the agent had posted the ad on Craigslist's
casual-encounters section because predators go there to "exploit
minors"). "nice pic!!!! where r u?" the agent emailed back the
next day. Medina replied the same day that he was in "Humacao PR"
and could "go wherever you wanted me to go." "I am 14yo," the
agent answered that same day too. "Is that okay?" to which Medina
wrote that very day that he doesn't "go out with minors."
This wasn't the end, however. Far from it. Medina
messaged "Rolianas" "Hi" a couple hours later. After the agent
replied "Hi" the next day, Medina asked "Rolianas" "what you doing
- 6 - tonight?" "I'm out with my parents right now," the agent
responded. Two days after that, Medina sent a "Hi bb how are you
are you busy??" email to "Rolianas" ("bb" is slang for "baby,"
according to the agent's testimony). "Nope!" the agent wrote back.
"How r u? Email sux. Wanna text me?" Answering the next day,
Medina wrote "I'm bore can I go pick u up??" "Give me your # so
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United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit
No. 24-1233
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Appellee,
v.
NELSON MEDINA-ORTIZ,
Defendant, Appellant.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO
[Hon. Franciso A. Besosa, U.S. District Judge]
Before
Aframe, Hamilton,* and Thompson, Circuit Judges.
Mariángela Tirado-Vales, for appellant.
Julia M. Meconiates, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney, and Mariana E. Bauzá-Almonte, Assistant United States Attorney, Chief, Appellate Division, were on brief, for appellee.
* Of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, sitting by designation. November 24, 2025 THOMPSON, Circuit Judge.
Setup
Caught in an FBI sting with agents posing as a 14-year-
old girl, Nelson Medina-Ortiz watched a jury convict him of
attempted transportation of a minor for criminal sexual activity,
see 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a), but acquit him of attempted sexual
enticement of a minor, see 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). And he appeals.
The only issue for us on de novo review is whether the
district judge needed to instruct the jury on an entrapment
defense. See, e.g., United States v. Dávila-Nieves, 670 F.3d 1,
9 (1st Cir. 2012) (spotlighting the standard of review). To win,
Medina (as we'll now call him, per Spanish-naming norms) must show
that the judge wrongly ruled that he hadn't met his "modest"
threshold burden of highlighting evidence both that the FBI induced
the crime and that he wasn't predisposed to commit it. See United
States v. Shinderman, 515 F.3d 5, 14 (1st Cir. 2008) (adding that
a court must "[t]ak[e] th[e] evidence in the light most flattering
to the defendant").1 Another way of saying this is that his failing
1 "[E]ntrapment," to quote the esteemed Judge Posner, "means the government's inducing a person to commit a crime who was not predisposed to commit it — in other words, who would not have committed it but for the particular inducement that the government held out." United States v. Manzella, 791 F.2d 1263, 1269 (7th Cir. 1986). "[I]f the inducement," he continued, merely affects the timing of the offense — inducing the criminal to commit it at a time and in a place where the government can easily apprehend him and make a case
- 3 - to establish either inducement or predisposition is fatal to this
appeal. See, e.g., United States v. Ramos-Paulino, 488 F.3d 459,
462 n.1 (1st Cir. 2007).
Agreeing with the government that his inducement
arguments fall short, we let Medina's conviction stand. And
because his case is straightforward, we cut straight to the merits
(offering further details as needed to place this appeal into
workable perspective).
Arguments and Analysis
Spanning just a few sentences in his brief's argument
section, Medina's theory that the government induced him to break
against him — punishing the criminal will, or at least may, reduce the crime rate, by taking out of circulation a person who, had he not been caught, would have committed the same crime, only in different circumstances, making it harder to catch him. Id. "But," Judge Posner said, if the inducement was so great that it tempted the person to commit a crime that he would not otherwise have committed, punishing him will not reduce the crime rate; it will merely deflect law enforcement into the sterile channel of causing criminal activity and then prosecuting the same activity. Id. We can't put it better ourselves.
- 4 - the law goes like this (using an easy-to-read bullet-point
format):2
• Impersonating a minor named "Rolianas" (we adopt the
parties' spelling), an agent "started the online
communications" by posting an ad on Craigslist's casual
encounters page titled "Bored - w4m" (w4m means women for
men, the agent explained at trial).3 In the ad's body, the
agent wrote "On Spring break in PR. What's gud? Been
boring so far! . . . looking for fun. Ideas??"4
• The agent then plunged "dogged[ly]" ahead, "playing" with
Medina by pushing "him to volunteer more activities" he
thought the two could do beyond his suggestions of "going
to the movies, eating, the beach," or driving around.
• And the agent's coaxing him to reveal other "fun" things he
might be looking for qualifies as a "plus factor" that
signals inducement. See, e.g., United States v. O'Donovan,
126 F.4th 17, 40 (1st Cir. 2025) (noting that simply
"providing an opportunity to commit a crime is not improper
2 Medina filed no reply brief, by the way. 3We put scare quotes around "Rolianas" — and around "she" and "her" (pronouns the parties use in referring to "Rolianas") — because "she" isn't a real person. 4The relevant materials are full of typos, missing words, and other grammatical or syntactical errors. We quote them as- is.
- 5 - inducement, although proof of opportunity plus something
else may be adequate to meet a defendant's burden to prove
inducement" (quoting United States v. Saemisch, 18 F.4th
50, 61 (1st Cir. 2021))); see also United States v.
González-Pérez, 778 F.3d 3, 11 (1st Cir. 2015) (saying that
"'plus' factor[s] include 'excessive pressure'" (quoting
United States v. Guevara, 706 F.3d 38, 46 (1st Cir. 2013))).
Call us unconvinced.
Medina's theory ignores some hard realities, as the
below-sampling of eight days' worth of emails, texts, and phone
calls between him and "Rolianas" shows.
i
Responding to the agent's ad, Medina emailed "Rolianas"
a photo of himself (the agent had posted the ad on Craigslist's
casual-encounters section because predators go there to "exploit
minors"). "nice pic!!!! where r u?" the agent emailed back the
next day. Medina replied the same day that he was in "Humacao PR"
and could "go wherever you wanted me to go." "I am 14yo," the
agent answered that same day too. "Is that okay?" to which Medina
wrote that very day that he doesn't "go out with minors."
This wasn't the end, however. Far from it. Medina
messaged "Rolianas" "Hi" a couple hours later. After the agent
replied "Hi" the next day, Medina asked "Rolianas" "what you doing
- 6 - tonight?" "I'm out with my parents right now," the agent
responded. Two days after that, Medina sent a "Hi bb how are you
are you busy??" email to "Rolianas" ("bb" is slang for "baby,"
according to the agent's testimony). "Nope!" the agent wrote back.
"How r u? Email sux. Wanna text me?" Answering the next day,
Medina wrote "I'm bore can I go pick u up??" "Give me your # so
I be able to text you girl."
ii
So the two switched to texting. And Medina made it quite
clear what he really wanted.
After only a few minutes of texting, Medina sent
"Rolianas" a photo of a female lying on a bed in a short dress
that left her buttocks (which faced the viewer) partly exposed.
One can't tell whether she's wearing underwear. Even Medina
recognizes on appeal that the photo is sexual in nature. Moments
later, Medina texted "Rolianas" a shirtless photo of himself.
And not for nothing, but Medina's photo-sending provides
key context for understanding his next messages. Read on and
you'll see.
After "Rolianas" again texted that "she" was "14" — in
response to his asking "How old are you??" — Medina typed "Are you
having fun jet??" "the days are fun but night is boring" the agent
replied. Which led to these exchanges:
Medina: What you really wanted to do??
- 7 - Agent: im lookin 2 have fun
Agent: what do U want 2 do?
Medina: How late your parents allowed you in?
Agent: if they go 2 casino 2morrow tbey will b out late
Medina: If you wanted I go pick you up??
Agent: what would we do 2gether?
Agent: id like that where would we
Medina: We can go to movies, eating, and to the [beach emojis] beach
Medina: Or cruising in my Polaris
Agent: fun! and what else?....
Medina: I don't think I wanted you to have any alcohol
Agent: y not?
Medina: I don't want to get any trouble and I don't wanted anything bad to happen to you
Medina: I'll treat you like my daughter
Agent: y would we get into trouble?
Medina: By you getting drunk
Agent: i already have a daddy
Medina: I mean with respect
Agent: that's why i posted the ad
- 8 - Agent: im tired of high school boys treating me like shit
Agent: looking 4 someone mature
Agent: no better time than on vacation away from home lol
Medina: Well I'm willing to go and meet and if you want we go out and try having some fun
Agent: i will only b able 2 go out at night when my parents are out
Agent: what would we do?
Medina: We could go cruising to show you around and you decide from there
There's more:
Agent: but i kno my parents r going to the casino tmrrw nite
Medina: Let me know what you wanted me to do
Medina: [eye emojis]
Agent: lol ur the one with all the experience!!! I dont have much experience :(
Nelson: What are you doing this to me girl [confused face emojis]
Agent: lol
Medina: You so bad
Agent: am I???????
Medina: Yes you are
Medina: You like bubbles ???
- 9 - Agent: obvi who doesnt??
Agent: thats a funny question
Medina: Jacuzzi
Agent: ahhhh i c
Agent: LUV jacuzzis
Medina: Yes
Medina: I treat you to
Agent: where?
Medina: It's a lots of them
Agent: it would have 2 be close 2 my hotel
There's more still:
Agent: i keep thinking about that hotel room5
Medina: You really want to go over??
Agent: do u????
Medina: Don't ask me twice lol
[. . .]
Agent: if we go 2 hotel what would i need 2 bring?
Medina: Nothing really unless you want to bring your swimming suit
Agent: do i need it for the jacuzzi?
Medina: If you want to that's up to you
5 Medina had sent "Rolianis" photos of a hotel bedroom and a heart-shaped jacuzzi filled with bubbles.
- 10 - Agent: i want u 2 tell me what 2 do :)
Medina: You got my heart beating fast again
Medina: Do you have any fantasy's you like to fulfill??
Agent: i told you im inexperience
Agent: was hoping u had ideas???
Medina: I don't really want to text overhear it's not right,my get us in trouble
Agent: Don't you think??
Medina: I don't really know who's over the other side...!
Agent: its jus me!!
Medina: You know something??
Agent: what?
Medina: You got me all [water droplet emojis and umbrella emoji]6
Medina: It's not funny
Agent: im sry
Medina: Are you really going??
Medina: Or you just playing with my mind????
6The agent testified that these emojis signify sexual arousal and fluids.
- 11 - Agent: r u realy coming???
Medina: Yes girl I told you I'm living early so I be there when you tell me
Medina: I asked God to forgive me but at the same time I thanks him for sending you my way I was stressing for real I needed something like this to happen HE knows how to do things when they needed to be done
Agent: i dont play games or wit minds
Agent: thats why i hate high school boys
There's even more:
Agent: ru safe?
Medina: Yes definitely
Agent: bc i am inexperienced and don't want 2 get sick
Medina: Bb trust me I'm not like that ,safe first before anything I been around too long...!
Agent: ok good
Agent: how will we b safe?
Medina: Not doing anything wrong
Agent: will it hurt?
Medina: What are you talking about I don't understand??
Agent: ru big?????
Medina: Gess what a Mexican girl told me one time??
- 12 - Agent: what????
Medina: That Spanish gays don't have anything to envy off black guys
Agent: thats why i worry about it hurting lol
Medina: My [tongue emojis] won't hurt lol
And there's even more still:
Agent: im just nrvous bc i kno a lot of guys try weird shit
Medina: I won't tried mnothing but to please you
Agent: u said u were safe ... would u be able to bring condoms???
Agent: ok
Medina: Have you been whith a men before or with someone your age??
Agent: ive had sex a couple of times with by ex bf but it sucked
Agent: he is why i dont like high school boys
Agent: they r too into themselves
Medina: Ok i see
Agent: is it ok that ive had sex b4?
- 13 - Medina: It would be easier that way
Agent: how would it be easier?
Medina: For you not being virgin
iii
Around this time, an agent pretending to be "Rolianis"
spoke twice with Medina by phone. The lowlights from their talks
include his telling "her" that they could "make sex" at the hotel
if "she" was "cool with it," and that he "thought" the police were
"going to come" nab him after "she" said "she" was "14" but
eventually decided "she" didn't "really sound like a cop."
As for our specific take on the case, we (as indicated
above) think the evidence doesn't show government
inducement — even when studied in the light most sympathetic to
Medina.
Despite what Medina seemingly implies (and we're
referring here to his complaining that the agent got the ball
rolling by posting the ad), it's "proper" — that is, "not an
'inducement'" — "for the government to use a 'sting,' at least
where it amounts to providing a defendant with an 'opportunity' to
commit a crime." See United States v. Gendron, 18 F.3d 955, 961
(1st Cir. 1994). Inducement (recall) involves more than the
- 14 - government's solicitation, suggestion, or an offer of a chance to
commit a crime — it involves that, plus "something akin to
excessive pressure, threats, or the exploitation of an unfair
advantage." See Ramos-Paulino, 488 F.3d at 462; see also
O'Donovan, 126 F.4th at 40; González-Pérez, 778 F.3d at 11. Medina
(remember) theorizes that the agent's asking "him to volunteer
more" fun stuff he and "Rolianis" could do counts as a plus factor.
But in law as in life, perspective matters. See, e.g., United
States v. Saccoccia, 10 F.4th 1, 9 (1st Cir. 2021). And what
Medina apparently forgets is that he pursued "Rolianis" after "she"
said "she" was "14": Yes, he did tell "her" that he doesn't "go
out with minors." Yet instead of walking away, he (despite having
time to consider his actions during the communication pause)
reconnected with "her" and later sent the sexually suggestive
female-on-bed photo and the shirtless-Medina pic — all of which
occurred before the agent asked the "fun! what else?" type
questions.
To get down to brass tacks, then, the FBI's "conduct
here posed no risk of inducing [Medina's] criminality 'rather than
ca[tching]' it." See United States v. Sewell, 103 F.4th 1292,
1298 (7th Cir. 2024) (second alteration in original) (quoting
United States v. Barta, 776 F.3d 931, 939 (7th Cir. 2015)). Simply
put, the agents gave him "the 'ordinary opportunity to commit the
charged crime' and he eagerly took it.'" See id. (emphasis added)
- 15 - (quoting United States v. Mayfield, 771 F.3d 417, 433 (7th Cir.
2014)); see also Guevara, 706 F.3d at 47 (holding that the
government's "[c]learing the way for criminal activity is not the
same as pushing the defendant down a pathway toward crime"); United
States v. Gifford, 17 F.3d 462, 468 (1st Cir. 1994) (underscoring
that "inducement refers to government conduct that persuades a
person to turn 'from a righteous path to an iniquitous one'"
(quoting United States v. Coady, 809 F.2d 119, 122 (1st Cir.
1987))).
And Medina's counterarguments aren't tide-turners.
Drawing our attention to just after the judge's final
jury charge, Medina makes a single-sentence claim "that the
district court failed to construe the evidence in the light most
favorable to" him when orally denying his renewed request for an
entrapment instruction. But in an earlier pretrial order rejecting
"Medina's request for an entrapment defense instruction" — without
prejudice to its renewal at the close of evidence — the judge made
crystal clear that he knew how to inspect the record. "An
entrapment instruction," the judge wrote, "is warranted if the
evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the defendant,
'makes [the entrapment defense] plausible or superficially
reasonable.'" United States v. Medina-Ortiz, 633 F. Supp. 3d 531,
536-37 (D.P.R. 2022) (emphasis added) (alteration in original)
- 16 - (quoting United States v. Pérez-Rodríguez, 13 F.4th 1, 19 (1st
Cir. 2021)). We've perused the record in the required light as
part of our de novo review and agree with the judge. See generally
United States v. Rodríguez-Torres, 939 F.3d 16, 23 (1st Cir. 2019)
(noting that de novo review means that we take our own "fresh"
look at the record). So we give Medina's made-in-passing claim no
never mind.
Medina also says that the FBI "play[ed] on [his]
sympathies." But he waived the argument by not developing it
beyond this cursory comment. See, e.g., Miller v. Jackson, 152
F.4th 258, 270 (1st Cir. 2025); FinSight I LP v. Seaver, 50 F.4th
226, 236 (1st Cir. 2022).
Asked at oral argument for the defense's best supporting
case, Medina's lawyer said United States v. Gamache, 156 F.3d 1
(1st Cir. 1998). But there are night-and-day differences between
that case and Medina's. One example suffices to make the point.
Posing as a mother named "Frances," the detective (not the
defendant) had steered the topic of communications with the
defendant to sex with "Frances's" minor "children" (the defendant
initially "was interested in having sex with the adult
'Frances'") — that is, the government was the "first" to
"mention[] the 'children' as sex objects" and had "escalated the
subject of sex with children." Id. at 4, 10; see also Pérez-
Rodríguez, 13 F.4th at 25 (discussing Gamache). Nothing like that
- 17 - happened here, however. So Gamache isn't an outcome-changer for
Because Medina hasn't met his burden on inducement, we
needn't consider predisposition. See, e.g., Shinderman, 515 F.3d
at 15 n.6.
Wrapup
The judge having properly denied the requested
entrapment instruction, we affirm Medina's conviction.
- 18 -